Rotorua to Waitomo

It seems to me, that one way to judge the quality of a day when you are traveling is by the number of pictures that were taken. If indeed that is an accurate measure, today was a fantastic day. We took almost 120 pictures! It seems like overkill to take that many pictures, I realize, but there were just so many amazing sights it had to be done. Thank goodness for digital photography. Don’t worry, we won't force any of you sit through the slide show (of course we'd be happy to show you if you are a glutton for punishment).

Today was like Geology 101 revisited. Our first stop was Waitopu Thermal Wonderland. It has a wide variety of breathtaking thermal features, from bubbling mud pots to geysers and sulfur pools. It truly is a wonderland. We hiked, or tramped as they call it here, around the park for several hours. And took loads of pictures. I am still partial to Yellowstone myself, but this is quite amazing.

Then we drove about 2 hours to a town called Waitomo. Here there a series of limestone caves each with unique features. We chose to tour two caves, Aranui and the Waitimo glowworm cave. Both were similar in regard to formation. We were reminded of all of the things we learned in “rocks for jocks” which aren’t terribly interesting in a book but are quite breathtaking in real life. You know-stalactites and stalagmites etc. The first cave was a dry cave, so we just hiked around admiring the formations. The second cave had a river running through it. So we hiked down through the cave and got into a metal boat. The unique feature of this cave is that in the dark reaches of the cave covering a majority of the ceiling are glowworms. They are like millions of tiny florescent green LED lights in the ceiling of the cave. The tour guide pulls the boat along using a series of cables so it is completely silent. The passengers too are asked to be silent, and they don't let you take any pictures. It was one of the most tranquil moments I have ever experienced. If you ever find yourself in NZ it is a must see.